Like in previous years, the research begins in July 2010 and runs to February 2011, with the guidebook published in June 2011.

A significant change this year is that there are an increased number of submissions due on July 1, particularly in some of the larger states – such as California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Massachusetts.

In the past, the key states tended to be researched later in the cycle to give the bigger firms more time to prepare, but it looks like some marketing departments will have to sprint to meet this first deadline.